Microsoft "Athens" PC White Paper

By Ian W
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Grand Master

Ian W

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Posted

In my pursuit for information related to Windows "Longhorn" and Windows Vista I discovered that Microsoft had published a white paper for its "Athens" PC concept from 2003. I believe the white paper originates from the Microsoft Windows Hardware Hardware Engineering Conference web site. The "Athens" was a collaborative effort between Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

vzBjtpY.png

According to Microsoft the significance of "Athens" was not the device itself, but that it consolidated various hardware and software features previously included separately in a single device.

Some of you may believe that the PC isn't relevant anymore, and while technically true, the information is historically significant and may be of use to those looking for information about the subject. It is also fascinating to read about the technology and scenarios discussed in the white paper?such as appliance-like availability, audio communications, and Bluetooth connectivity?which are now commonplace.

https://web.archive.org/web/20031002214315/http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/winhec/docs/AthensPCWP.doc

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Grand Master

goretsky Supervisor

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Hello,

 

Interesting photo; it looks a little like an Apple iMac with an Apple Mac Mini behind it and an Apple iPad in front of it.

 

Downloading the white paper now.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

Grand Master

Ian W

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Hello,

 

Interesting photo; it looks a little like an Apple iMac with an Apple Mac Mini behind it and an Apple iPad in front of it.

 

Downloading the white paper now.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

It is somewhat interesting that you mention Apple. According to reports, when "Athens" was first unveiled, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were accused of imitating design elements popularized by the aforementioned company.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/12/technology/12SOFT.html

Grand Master

bandit_liberty_rumble

Posted
Posted

 

"The one thing Apple's providing now is leadership in colors," Mr. Gates, the head of Microsoft , said at a conference for financial analysts at the time, News.com said. "It won't take long for us to catch up with that, I don't think." (2003)

 

:rofl:

 

Grand Master

MikeChipshop Member

Posted
  • Member
Posted

Go to 2:08  -- did this "hardware" guy really just commit the ul;ultimate geek faux pa ?  Calling the tower a CPU ?  Really ?  Just lost all credibility.

 

He was clearly referring to the main function of the white box. In that it's doing the brute work for the rest of the external systems. 

Grand Master

Ian W

Posted
  • Author
Posted

How is the PC not relevant anymore at all?

I guess it depends on how one looks at it. To some the PC may not be relevant anymore because technology has progressed, yet others will look at its historical significance and use that as a basis for their reasoning . . . The "Athens" is unlike other "Longhorn" innovations because most of the technology and features are here for Windows users to enjoy. It's not like the situation with, for example, the NGSCB. It has been over ten years and I am still not able to seal data to 'environments' of my choosing; barring Measured Boot in Windows 8 I am not able to send information about my software and/or hardware configuration to external requestors; other applications have access to the information in my graphics buffer, and et cetera.

Perhaps 'important' would have been a better word to use other than 'relevant.' If I could, I would update my previous statement.

  • 2 months later...
Grand Master

+Warwagon MVC

Posted
  • MVC
Posted

true, but calling it a CPU is exactly what non-techies do. 

It was shocking

 

They call it the CPU or The Modem. They call it the computer sometimes too, but half the time they are actually referring to their monitor.

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